Reel Life (Sep 1914 - Mar 1915)

1 Six REEL LIFE FACTS AND FIGURES AND SUCH EDWIN THANHOUSER is back in the motion picture business. Mr. Thanhouser, who, in spite of the retirement from which he now returns, has remained one of the most dominant personalities in picture productions, has re-assumed full charge of the New Rochelle studio which bears his name. Since his return from Europe the motion picture industry has been filled with rumors concerning Mr. Thanhouser's prospective affiliations. That it was his desire to re-associate himself with the brand he made famous, was known to his intimate friends. 'However, the announcement of the assumption by him of general charge of the Thanhouser Film Corporation, while perhaps the most interesting •event of the year in film circles, was not completely a surprise. Mr. Thanhouser brings to the producing field a denial of the supposed superiority of European made films, and the firm belief in the ability of American producers .and the capacity of American .studios to keep American made films well in the van of this great industry. Mr. Thanhouser is not a chatty person. He prefers to foe measured by an inventory of results rather than a prospectus of Ihopes. However, he commented on his return to the field of his ■earlier activities. "1 am glad to be back," said Mr. Thanhouser, "and I can admit, without immodesty, that I am full of ambition and anxious to make good films. There is a lure in the motion pasture industry ■which is just as s§£6ng as the proverbial call of the wild. I find ■conditions in the film market have ■changed in the last two years, different methods being noticeable. Perhaps the principal change is the advent of the feature film. There is, too, the appearance of the best talent in pictures, and what is perhaps more noteworthy, the availability of the best talent. I notice that feature films constitute a somewhat vexed question. "The fact that the film is long, five or six reels or more or less, does .not make it a feature. I think I was the first producer to advocate the natural length film, and the first to produce a 1500 foot subject. The length of a film should be predicated upon the natural length of the story, so that it follows, if the subject runs naturally to 4,000 feet, it must be a good story, and, naturally a good feature film. It is the story that does not naturally run the length of the film, that has brought the feature film into disrepute as a market asset, because in a long film the story interest must be cumulative. "Another point of interest is the adaptation of plays from the speaking stage to the screen, and it is of special interest to note, that plays are not being produced from the speaking stage with the same rapidity with which they are being adapted to the screen. However, the field of classics and poems, and of literature which, while it may not be described as classical, is at least classically standard, remains practically untouched. "The trade must recall that the Thanhouser Company, when I was previously in charge, presented the first adaptation of Ibsen, making that author commercially acceptable on the screen, and also we were the first among the independents to produce Shakespearian plays. I recollect at the time this was attempted, there was considerable comment raised in certain circles to the effect that we were profaning literature by attempting to present in moving pictures the works of such a master as the 'Bard of Avon'. Surely times change, for now no subject is too momentous, too religious,' ' or too sacred to prevent its adaptation to the screen." I Edwin iThanhouser, Who Ha of the New Rochelle Stud N a recent issue of one of the best known trade journals in the industry, it was stated that the director, who attempted to produce a picture without a script in his hand, was seriously handicapped. Under the heading "Producing Without a Scenario", the writer contended that to do so was for the average director to court disaster. The writer qualified his statement somewhat, however, by saying that exceptions were made to this rule in the cases of those whom he described as coming under the class of "geniuses". This admission, of course., greatly modifies the main contention made in the article. As a matter of fact, a very big percentage of the greatest motion picture directors use a script hardly at all, at least after they have begun production. It is a rare thing, for instance, to see D. W. Griffith, directorgeneral of the Reliance-Majestic forces, producing with a manuscript close at hand. It is said that Mr. Griffith produced his twelve reel classic, The Birth of a Nation without handling a script at all. Thomas H. Ince, the wizard of the New York Motion Picture Corporation, also seldom uses a scenario after he has commenced to create a photoplay, while Mack Sennett, the master-craftsman in the field of film comedy, never uses a script at all, when constructing one of his famous Keystones. In fact, such a thing as a Keystone scenario, probably doesn't exist. And like Topsy, each of the popular Sennett productions, "jest growed'\ Both Mr. Griffith and Mr. Ince, when making preparations for a new production, familiarize themselves with the theme, creating new business as the plot develops under their hands. This is one reason, why their pictures are pre-eminently original and unusual. Geniuses are prone to set their own standard and make their own rules. s Re-Assumed Full Charge io That Bears His Name